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"Beth Fernley, you can come to Emily's birthday party tonight." Miss Gardener said to me.

If you want to say who in the manor is the most popular and has the best interpersonal relationship, it is probably the lady doctor who saves lives and heals the wounded. She will take care of every survivor who is injured or punished for failure, and almost everyone accepts her favor.

The daily life in the manor is depressing and monotonous. By celebrating Emily's birthday to relax, she simply invited all the survivors and Emma notified everyone.For this reason, I went to the Hall of Illusion to exchange some points for gifts.

The restaurant and the hall were all decorated, ribbons and balloons were tied, and the food for the celebration had already been prepared. The stagnant atmosphere in the manor was rarely lively.

"It's really rare to see so many survivors at once." I couldn't help but sigh with emotion as I watched the venue where people came and went.Most of the survivors in the past shrank in their own rooms, and meals were sometimes staggered, so when I saw them today, it felt like many more people came at once

Emma said with a smile: "It means that everyone likes Emily very much. That's great. Let's celebrate happily today~"

Could it be that Emily, the protagonist of the banquet, changed out of the nurse's uniform and wore a small foreign dress today. At this time, as the birthday star, surrounded by survivors, she has her usual gentle smile on her face, and she is soft when receiving gifts.

Miss Gardener took me and ran over happily. Although it was Emily's birthday, she seemed happier than Miss Doctor, chatting non-stop.

"Emily, you are so beautiful today, just like a real angel!"

The lady doctor looked at her dotingly.

"Beth Fernley, thank you for coming to my birthday party." She said a few words to Emma, ​​and then smiled politely at me.

Everyone around looked at me.

I laughed too, and offered a present: "Happy birthday, Emily."

"Thank you."

Emma noticed a pile of gift boxes on display: "Emily, everyone gave you a lot of gifts!"

The lady doctor smiled shyly: "Yes...Actually, it would be great if you can come to the party. You don't bring much, and you are nervous about your points. This will cost you too much."

"You can't say that, everyone is very grateful to Emily." After I finished speaking, the survivors around me all said, "Yes, thanks to Emily's care on weekdays!"

"Thanks to Emily being there we are able to recover as quickly as possible from the aftereffects of a game."

There are too many people around, talking all over the place, with her Miss Angel, Emma can't care about me anymore.I have given gifts and congratulated, I am not the protagonist of the banquet, and I am still on the cusp of rumors, so I should keep a low profile.Thinking this way, I slowly withdrew from the crowd, and it went smoothly without anyone blocking me.

Looking around for a while, Marta and Naibu are the popular characters that everyone wants to make friends with. After all, they are powerful rescuers. If they are assigned to a game, it will make people feel at ease.In the lively atmosphere, many survivors were trying to talk to them.

In keeping with the low-key principle, I tried to find a place to sit by myself, but Tracy sat in the corner, looking a bit disturbed.

"What's the matter, are you uncomfortable?" I saw her sitting there alone, so I walked over, seeing that she looked a little uncomfortable, I couldn't help asking.

Holding a cup in both hands, Tracy whispered, "...no, no, I'm just not used to...so many people."

Unlike girls' night chats, there were too many people at the party, and the mechanic who was slightly socially afraid couldn't adapt to such a lively atmosphere, so he simply found a corner and hid.

She looked at me curiously: "Why don't you go play?"

"I'm a little tired from playing games recently, and I want to relax for a while." I winked at her: "Just let me sit quietly for a while."

Tracy nodded understandingly, gave me a kind smile, looked at the people surrounded there, and whispered, "It's terrible. If I'm surrounded like that, I'll have to suffocate." Obviously everyone Everyone wants to be popular, but Tracey does the opposite, wishing she could be good alone.That is to say, after coming to the manor, under the pressure of the escape game, she had to open her mouth to communicate with others, and her social anxiety got better. I have to say that the gentle lady doctor played a big role in it.

It seems that the lady doctor is very gentle to patients with psychological problems. Even in the unpredictable Odiris Manor, Emily insists on implementing the doctor's rules, saving lives and healing the wounded, and will not change no matter what.

Just like in that game, the lady doctor rushed out even though I was caught by the red butterfly and I couldn't escape. Did she ever think about saving me in this situation, and she might not be able to escape? Woolen cloth?

Tracy lay on the table, took out the remote control and pressed it in her hand after a while, and said to herself: "It's better to be a robot, if it's not noisy, it won't cause trouble. When you want it to be quiet, it will definitely won't bother you."

"But there are things that robots can't do, such as communication. If you are alone all the time, your thinking will not be able to communicate and empathize, and you will be very lonely."

Tracy turned her back a bit awkwardly, and then I heard her somewhat stubborn voice: "But it's very tiring, the communication between people is too complicated... Even if you don't do anything, you still have to be suspected."

This seems to imply something. As a mechanic who is recognized as a genius with a high IQ, he is not good at interpersonal communication, but he is not stupid at all.I was careful not to make the topic too heavy. After all, today is a relaxing and happy day, so I said in a joking tone: "Not necessarily, maybe things are very simple. If you can deal with regulators, it is easier than dealing with people. .”

Tracy turned her head to look at me, and complained, "It's only a fool who does such a thing. According to the probability, it's not worth it at all."

I couldn't help but smile.

After a while, I noticed that someone seemed to be absent: "Where's Vera?"

"Her?" Tracy looked left and right: "It seems that she didn't see it from the beginning?"

"It's not because she forgot..." I thought of the perfumer's not-so-good memory, and I have to say, there is such a possibility: "I'll go find her, by the way, do you want to come together?"

Tracy shook her head like she didn't want to move, so I stopped thinking about being with her and went upstairs, just as I guessed, the perfumer really forgot about the banquet.When she opened the door for me, she was still holding a glass tube in her hand, and the room was full of aromas. It was the smell of mixing and crushing a variety of spices, which was very special and pleasant.

A clean room is isolated with glass in one corner of the room, which seems to be the place where the perfumer makes perfume.There are many bottles and jars on the table, as well as a test tube distillation device, and various incense making tools. The perfume on the table is half completed, and various spices are placed aside.

The perfumer asked me, "What's the matter?"

"Vera, everyone is gathering below, won't you come?"

She was stunned: "Party?" Subconsciously looking at the clock hanging on the wall, she was shocked after seeing the time displayed on it: "It's already this time? At that time, when did the party start? "

Seeing her like this, I understood that she must have forgotten the time when she set the fragrance. I was a little dumbfounded: "Then are you going now?"

Vera glanced at the half-finished perfume with some hesitation: "Wait a minute, I'm about to finish it! Beth Fenli, can you wait for me for a while, I'm afraid I'll get too involved and forget."

"Of course." After finishing speaking, the perfumer found another delicate bottle from the bottles and jars: "This is the perfume I specially made for Emily. I originally planned to give it to her as a birthday present, but I even forgot the packaging, hey, it’s all because of my poor memory.”

"Is there no cure?"

"Emily has thought of a way to help me cure amnesia," Vera sighed, "but I can't give up the fragrance of Wangyou. I'm satisfied if I can keep the current state without getting worse."

I quietly watched the perfumer shaking the bottle while eagerly watching the appearance of the perfume in the bottle. I couldn’t help but say:

"Vera is really persistent."

People can always be desperate for what they want, just like the loyal priestess in the manor, she can abandon everything, give up her life, and burn her soul, just to dedicate all her enthusiasm to her gods.

And others don't understand, and don't need to understand.I looked at the glass bottle that the perfumer took out so as not to forget: "What will the perfume that Vera specially mixes for Emily smell like?"

Vera smiled mysteriously, and took out a small tube from the drawer: "This is a bit extra, you can smell it."

I took it with some curiosity, opened the plug, and a faint fragrance of grass and trees floated in the air.

"It smells like herbs..." I dabbed a little on my wrist, waited for a while, and entered the middle note. The faint herbaceous fragrance gradually turned into a trace of sweetness, gentle and beautiful, like a beautiful woman with her back to you, holding Holding a basket of jasmine, plain but beautiful.The back note gradually becomes richer, as if you have finally approached the beautiful woman, and she slowly turns to look at you, revealing a bright and moving face.I easily brought that face into the beautiful face of the lady doctor, and smiled slightly: "It's a great perfume, Vera is really amazing, there is nothing more suitable for Emily than this one."

Vera finished the final operation, put away the equipment and raised a smiling face: "It took me a lot of thought, thanks to the spices in the manor can be exchanged with points, otherwise the best inspiration will not be worthy of anything."

I couldn't help looking at those spices. There were a lot of them on the table, and there were all kinds of them. You must know that the price of spices is not cheap, and Vera's points are probably spent here.

Noticing the look in my eyes, Vera asked, "Does Beth Fernley understand spices?"

"Know a little bit."

"Then next time I'll make a fragrance for Beth Fenley as well," Vera looked me up and down, and decided happily.

With our things packed and our perfume packed, we were finally able to head out the door.It was getting late, and when we came out, we happened to meet the survivor next door to the perfumer returning to the room. Perhaps because the perfumer didn't go out often to socialize with people, that person just greeted us indifferently and entered. room.I walked downstairs with Vera, but something was wrong in my heart.

Subconsciously stopped, I began to recall, what is wrong?In a flash of inspiration, I grabbed Vera who didn't understand why I stopped suddenly: "Vera, has the person next door to you changed?"

"Huh?" Vera didn't respond.

"I remember, it was clearly where another person lived before." Relying on my photographic memory, I said firmly, "I saw him in the restaurant at breakfast three days ago."

What responded to me was Vera's blank eyes: "Three days ago? Is that right... Are you saying that my former neighbor is dead?"

... Death always comes quietly.

As I said before, if a survivor loses a game, he will not really die, but he will be punished for failure, and his spirit will be weakened, and if the failures pile up again and again, no matter how strong the fortress is, it will collapse.The more times you get lost, the survivors will go to real extinction.

This kind of demise is often not visible, but when he can't hold on, or a certain game fails, the survivor will disappear completely. No one knows how they died, and there will be no corpses. But...they're not coming back.

Except for the panic at the beginning, all survivors gradually fell into a kind of numbness after a long time.The room of the dead will be re-arranged for new people to stay in, and the memories of passing by in the past will no longer be remembered, and just disappear like this.

The perfumer has completely forgotten about the previous survivor. To be precise, she doesn't have much impression of most of the survivors. It doesn't matter to her who lives next door... No, maybe it doesn't matter to anyone, I stood on the stairs on the second floor and looked down. There were people coming and going in the hall, and the laughter and the sound of music seemed to bring people to another world.

Unlike Odiris Manor, there is always depression and despair.

My hand on the armrest was slowly clenched, then gradually loosened, and I walked down with the perfumer with a faint smile. Marta waved to me in the crowd: "Beth Fenli, Vera, come on!" !"

Cake and fruit, champagne drinks, except for the survivors who had to participate in the game the next day, everyone let go of their scruples, even drank more or less, and sang and shouted together when they had fun.On the dance floor, the men and women danced to the wrong beat, which was a joy to watch.

Tracy, who wanted to shrink back, still couldn't sit still, and was pulled out to play after a while. She simply called out the puppet to perform and dance.Not far away, the adventurer collapsed on a chair with a happy expression on his face while holding a wine bottle. In front of him was a pile of empty wine bottles.The philanthropist chased his Miss Gardener, but it was a pity that Emma focused on Emily. Kreacher, unable to squeeze into the crowd of women, had to drag the magician to get drunk and cry. Smile.When Vera took out the perfume for Emily, she was surrounded by a group of girls, and Marta was inadvertently drunk, and pulled Nebu to drink him...

"Bettanfell, let go!"

"Haha Nab," Marta almost poked the mercenary's face with the bottle in his hand: "You are too weak!"

"I'm weak? Don't you feel ashamed that a woman can't drink as much as a man?"

...Well, Neb also drank too much.

In such a happy atmosphere, I can't help but drink a few glasses of wine, and then look at them with a smile.Neb can still bluff people when he puts on a straight face, but it's a pity that he met Marta, and the aura of the iron-blooded mercenaries who came off the battlefield has no effect on the air force.The two of them started drinking together for some reason, and I couldn’t help laughing... Smiling and laughing, the light from the crystal chandelier on the ceiling of the hall and the noise of laughter in my ears made me a little dizzy, so I refused several invitations to dance I put down the wine glass that was empty for some reason, and said to the two who were still fighting for a drink: "I'm going out for a walk." Regardless of whether they heard it or not, I walked out slowly.

My brain was a little dizzy, and I didn't know where to go. I wanted to go to the garden at first, but I realized that it was dark and there were no lights, and there was nothing to see. Where else could I go?

...It doesn't seem to be there, but I don't want to go back to the room either.Standing in a daze for a while in the corridor leading to the living room, he suddenly heard a sound outside the window.Walking over to take a look, a red rose was placed on the window sill. The delicate petals reminded people of the garden full of roses in the manor that was exactly the same as the survivor's dormitory.

Carefully avoiding the thorns on the stem, I picked up the flower. The incision of the flower was still very fresh, and it looked like it had just been cut... Suddenly, I picked up an oil lamp, opened the door and walked out.